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| The Concert for New York City Saturday, October 20, 2001 Madison Square Garden New York City |
| With Performances by: David Bowie, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, The Who, Elton John, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson (via satellite), Eric Clapton, Destiny's Child, Melissa Etheridge, Macy Gray, Five for Fighting, Goo Goo Dolls, India.arie, James Taylor and Bon Jovi AND with apperances by Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Howard Stern, Natalie Portman, David Spade, Selma Hayak, Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon, John Cusack, Michael J. Fox, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Bill Clinton, New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani and more... |
| On October 20, 2001 I had the great priviledge of attending The Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden. Here are some of my thoughts on the evening, as well as some pictures I have collected from various web sources. First off, I'll say that I had wanted to go to this event since it was first announced, but was unable to get a ticket, despite giving it my best effort. Then when David Bowie announced the week of the show that he would be performing and that some additional tickets would be going on sale, that did it - I HAD to go! The Tuesday before the show, I was VERY lucky to get a $250 ticket - I was so excited. I'm going! I made the drive from Boston to NY that Saturday and headed straight over to the famed Garden, a place I have been to for some musically historic events in my life, dating back to Led Zeppelin in 1975, most recently to Bowie's Birthday bash in 1997, and The Stones in 1998 and The Who's great Quadrophenia show in 1996. To see ALL of these acts TOGETHER was a rock fan's dream! What I knew in going to New York this time however, was that this was a different sort of occasion - the cause of the evening being a benefit for the fire fighters and their families effected by the Sept. 11 tragedy. It was my first chance to get to NY since that fateful day, and tears nearly came to my eyes as I first glimpsed Manhattan off in the distance from Route 95. I have a brother that lives with his family in Manhattan (who I stayed with), and so I feel I have a strong connection to the Apple, and I have always loved New York. |
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| Sitting alone on the Madison Sq. Garden stage, David Bowie opens the show with a version of Paul Simon's America. |
| Paul McCartney with a little help from his friends |
| So anyway - on with the show and my "review." I guess what I am leading up to is, beyond the music of the show, the most memorable thing of the evening was the pure EMOTION of the night - as the performers and the audience gathered together in just this mammoth show of SUPPORT for all involved. It truly felt like a world wide hug or something. I can say that of the many great events I have been lucky enough to have been to in my lifetime, only Live Aid comes close - and that was one of the best days ever. This was even more than that though - as here we were not trying to help some hurting people in another part of the world - these people were sitting in the first half of the floor of Madison Square Garden right in front of us! OK, on with the program. Finally David Bowie opens the show with a very "sweet" but deeply affecting version of Paul Simon's America. Sitting alone on the stage, only Bowie could pull off such a move. He then kicked the evening into high gear with a rocking "Heroes" that had the Garden crowd cheering in support, and me on the edge of my seat, trying to catch every move Bowie made. It was great - and over all too soon. (Bowie BTW had Mark Plati and Gail Ann Dorsey from his band with him, in addition to Paul Schaeffer's house band for the evening.) The 6 hours went by in flash. Some of the high points of the evening for me were: Billy Crystal (an unannounced surprise) gave a great opening monologue that was both funny ("I've never seen rock stars run AWAY from white powder before") and also uplifting - setting the tone for the night - this was to be a celebration of the spirit, and a night of healing. The Who: No doubt about it, musically The Who stole the show. They were just incredible. In watching the VH1 tape when I got home, the first thing that struck me was how TV, no matter how good the quality, just can not approach the shear power of the SOUND of The Who LIVE. Plus the whole crowd just getting into it, exploding as Townshend did his trademark windmills, or as Daltrey twirled the mic - you just can't get tired of it. It was truly great - Baba O'Reilly and We Won't Get Fooled Again (taking on new meaning) totally kicked ass. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards: A super surprise to see Keith, as it was just supposed to be Mick. They did Salt of the Earth (one of my faves, and a rousing version here - also very appropriate) and before breaking into a party vibe for Miss You, Mick says the one thing we've learned is that "you don't fuck with New York" to wild applause. Another great moment. |
| To Return to My Home Page |
| To Return to My Main Bowie Page |
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Then we had Paul McCartney. Now, I have never seen any of the Beatles, and so this was another part of the night I was really looking forward to. I was lucky enough before the show not only to see Bowie go into MSG, but I saw Paul get into his car (preceded by his fiancee), which was a thrill. And when he opened up with I'm Down - the song (along with Satisfaction) that pretty much turned me onto rock and roll when I saw John Lennon scraping his elbow along the keyboards at Shea Stadium all those many years ago - well, that was certainly a high point for me personally. I think the whole crowd had to take SOME issue with him doing what - three new songs? Make no mistake - his version of Yesterday was unforgettable. Let it Be was sublime. But for him then to do his new (and not that good really IMHO) Freedom song TWICE was baffling. I mean Paul - you do have a few other songs you know!! lol. Oh well, it was fine. The whole world owes Paul many thanks for this night (not to mention that whole Beatles thing - lol). But perhaps the greatest moments of the night were not musical. When Mayor Rudy Guiliani showed up, it was like the parting of the Red Sea. Just amazing. And him telling the young boy who said he had lost his father and he loved him, that his father was a hero and a patriot that all America respects - well, there was barely a dry eye in the house. When Jim Carrey before introducing McCartney took a picture of a fire fighter from the crowd, showed it to the camera, and said "This is what a hero looks like" he pretty much summed up the night and the new way in which we see the world. And then of course we had the fire fighter from Rockaway beach who truly had the best line of the night when he shouted "Osama bin Laden you can kiss my royal Irish ASS." THAT may have been the single greatest moment of one of the greatest nights ever. What more can I say?? - DEmerson, Oct. 23, 2001 |
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| And now, for you youngsters... |
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| Adam Sandler: Truly his "Operaman" routine was one of the best moments of the night. Absolutely hysterical as he praised Mayor Guiliani, The Yankees, and all that is NY, and lambasted Bin Laden. The other guy from Sat. Night Live who earlier had done a Bush impression was also right on the money, giving us a "Behind the Music on the Artist formerly known as the Taliban." Very funny. Elton John: His version of Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters was outstanding, as was his duet with Billy Joel on Your Song, where you could have heard a pin drop at the Garden as the two piano men sang. Once again, another classic song took on a whole new meaning in front of this crowd. Most of the other performers put in solid performances: John Mellencamp (with a surprise appearance by Kid Rock) was really good. Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy gave a needed dose of rock and blues guitar on their two numbers. The Goo Goo Dolls also gave a nice shot of adrenaline during their cover of Tom Petty's American Girl. Low points for me were some of the films that were shown during the evening (I don't know how they played on TV, but it maybe was not the best idea to show short movies in front of a Garden crowd that is ready to rock). Mellissa Etheridge as always screamed her way through her two songs, the only good thing there was when her mic went out for a few minutes. And the crowd booing Hillary Clinton off the stage was a well deserved moment for that self serving bitch - but hardly a high point IMO. And where were Bono and The Edge?? I have since heard that there was an Anthrax scare at Bono's kids school - and I am sure there must have been a good reason why they did not make it, but somehow my respect for them now continues to DEcline. Anyone else who was supposed to be there and was not (Marc Anthony, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Rock) also get major LOSER points IMO. |
| There's a lot of hard working people to drink to |
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| You are not just a number |